


Safe Harbor

by carnivalinsidemyhead



Category: Take That
Genre: 90s fic, Falling In Love, First Date, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Mild Angst, just general schmoopiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 13:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20725115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnivalinsidemyhead/pseuds/carnivalinsidemyhead
Summary: Jason was patience and comfort and wisdom. He was staying up to three in the morning talking about books. He was getting into debates over stuff like the true meaning of happiness and knowing you could disagree all you want and even shout and it would still be okay, you would still be safe and he would still love you.Jason was home.





	Safe Harbor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WriterOfFanFics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterOfFanFics/gifts).

> For WriterofFanfics who requested a Mark and Jason story where they get to be happy for a change.

Jason and Howard sat in the hotel lounge, Howard sprawled on a sofa with his feet up and resting in Jason’s lap and Jason absentmindedly noodling around on his guitar at the sofa’s end. Occasionally one or the other would stifle a yawn.

Gary wandered through on his way up to his room for the night. 

“Little and Large still not back yet, then?”

Howard shook his head. 

“Hope they don’t keep you up too much longer, you look bloody awful.”

“Thanks Gaz. Love you too.”

“You know what I mean. Here, d’ya want me to stay and keep an eye out for them so you two can go get some sleep?” 

Jason shook his head. “We’re fine, Gaz, you go ahead and get yourself to bed.”

“You sure?”

Jason gave him a tired smile. “Might as well not sleep down here as in my room.”

About half an hour later, Mark and Robbie came stumbling through the door. As expected, they were both several degrees removed from sobriety.

“How was the party then?” Jason asked. 

Robbie grinned. “It were mega,” he declared, giving a double thumbs up.

Mark tried to copy the gesture but managed to lose his balance and fall over instead. 

“Right,” declared Howard decisively as he stood up and walked over to where Mark was lying in a giggling heap on the floor, “Bedtime for Boozo.”

He bent down and scooped Mark up, slinging him over his shoulder. 

Mark smacked at him ineffectually with his fists. “Put me down you twat, I can walk. ‘M not that drunk” he grumbled.

“Pull the other one, Markie. You’re fucking legless.”

“You too, Rob,” Jason said, giving him a bit of a shove down the hall, “though I don’t know as I can carry you.”

“You’re not my real mum,” Robbie muttered under his breath, but he allowed himself to be guided to his and Mark’s room willingly enough.

They got them settled in and dosed up with paracetamol and promises to drink plenty of water because “we don’t have fucking time for you two to be dealing with hangovers tomorrow” and were about to tell them goodnight and finally head up to bed themselves when they noticed them giggling and whispering conspiratorially as they lay snuggled in bed together. 

“Okay, what are you two muppets up to?” demanded Howard.

They both gave him their best innocent faces. 

“Tell us a story.”

Jason laughed. “Cheeky fuckers.”

Howard sat down at the foot of the bed. “Right,” he began, “Once upon a time, there were two little pains in the arse who needed to go the fuck to sleep…”

That night was, looking back on it, probably the last time that Robbie’s drinking and partying had seemed innocent and relatively harmless. It had begun spiraling out of control shortly after that, in some ways slowly and in others like it happened overnight.

Even Mark couldn’t keep up with him, though lord knows he tried. At least for a little while.

After a bit though, it began to wear thin, constantly getting shitfaced.

He started to opt out of nights on the town more and more, preferring instead to stay in and read or hang out with Jason. Sometimes Jason and Howard. But usually just Jason.

Eventually Robbie stopped inviting him along.

When Robbie was, inevitably, asked to leave the group, Mark was devastated, of course. How could he not be? After all, Robbie was his best friend. And yet underneath the devastation he couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit relieved.

He felt guilty about that, but Robbie had changed so much and he was just...exhausting to be around anymore. 

And Jason was...Jason was anything but exhausting to be around. Jason was patience and comfort and wisdom. He was staying up to three in the morning talking about books. He was getting into debates over stuff like the true meaning of happiness and knowing you could disagree all you want and even shout and it would still be okay, you would still be safe and he would still love you. 

Mark never felt like he could ever let go and be less than totally affable around anyone else like he did with Jason.

Because Jason was..well, Jason was home. Jason was where Mark’s heart lived.

“He’s got feelings for you,” Howard told Jason one night. Jason cocked his head at him in puzzlement.

“Mark, I mean. Can tell from how he’s been looking at ya. He fancies you rotten.”

“Does he really? Do you really think so?” 

Howard watched Jason’s face light up at his words and broke into a grin. 

“You fancy him rotten too! I knew it!”

Jason blushed. “I do not!” He protested.

“Oh give over, Jay. Look I know you feel like you’re supposed to be his big brother and all that, but we both know Markie’s as much of a grown man as the rest of us at this point. He’s grown up a lot these past few months. You want to go out with him now, there’s nowt wrong with it.”

“Thanks How.”

“Mind it’s a bit weird to my mind to be fancying a lad who still passes for fifteen, but I’m not judging..”

Jason glared at him. Howard grinned. “Only joking, mate. Mark can totally pass for seventeen these days.”

Jason hit him with a pillow.

“In all seriousness though, you should ask him out on a date.”

Jason smiled at him mischievously. “I will,” he said, “on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Howard regarded him with suspicion.

“You finally ask Gaz out like you’ve been too chicken to for I don’t know how long.”

About a week later, Jason approached Mark shortly before they were to be picked up to go to the arena for the night’s gig.

He felt absurdly nervous for some reason. Picking up girls was a walk in the park but this? Not like Mark was going to be dazzled by his being in Take That!

Taking a deep breath, he tapped Mark on the shoulder and smiled at Mark half hesitantly when he turned around and beamed at him.

“Hey Mark? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Jay. What’s up?”

Jason froze. “Get it together,” he told himself, “it’s Mark, nowt to be scared of here.”

Mark was looking at him with concern. “You alright, Jay?”

“D’ya want to maybe go out sometime?”

Mark frowned slightly. “You mean, like, on a date?”

“Erm...yeah.”

Mark broke into a grin and jumped up to kiss Jason on the cheek.

“I’d love that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Great! Well let’s see..when’s our next day off?”

Mark thought a moment. “Think it’s Wednesday.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right. Want to go out Wednesday night?”

“Sure.” He paused and frowned. “Oh.. but, how are we going to manage going on a date while we’re on tour without the press catching on? Or worse, Nigel?”

Jason smiled. “Leave that to me.”

Wednesday evening at 8, Jason knocked on Mark’s hotel room door holding a picnic basket and a flower crown.

“I got us some takeaway from the little Italian place round the corner. And..err.. I got you a bouquet from the flower stall next to it but I felt a bit daft so I made it into this..”

He regarded the flower crown somewhat dubiously. “Which is probably even dafter than the bouquet, really…”

Mark laughed and took the crown and placed it on his head. “I love it.”

Jason smiled. “It suits you.” He held up the basket. “We ready?”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” 

He took Mark’s hand in his and gave it a tight squeeze and then walked down the hall to the elevator with him.

Once inside, he pressed the button to the top floor.

Mark looked puzzled when they got out.

“Come on,” Jason pointed to a short set of stairs leading up to the roof.

They climbed the stairs and then opened the door and stepped out onto the roof and a gorgeous view of the city.

“Figured we could have a nice picnic up here without anyone disturbing us.”

“That’s brilliant Jay.”

Jason took a red checked tablecloth out of the basket and spread it for them to sit on and then doled out portions of pasta primavera and poured out glasses of wine.

“There’s more.”

He rummaged a bit more and pulled out a candle in a glass bowl and a lighter and set the candle in the middle of the cloth and lit it. Then he pulled out a portable cassette player and pressed play. The sound of Madonna singing Like A Prayer filled the air.

“My favorite!” 

They chatted companionably over their pasta and wine and the cannoli which Jay had brought for dessert and then sat, Mark leaning against Jason’s chest with his arms around him and watched the night sky together in comfortable silence.

“When we get back home, I’ll take you on a proper date next time. That is if you want there to be a next time?”

“I definitely do. And this is a proper date to me. It’s just perfect..”

Mark paused, eyes sparkling.

“Well, almost perfect. There’s one thing missing.”

Jason smiled. “What’s that?”

“This.” And he shifted so he was facing Jason and took his face in his hands and leaned in to kiss him on the lips, a kiss that was soft and gentle and pleading at first and then slowly grew more forceful and passionate.

“Now,” he grinned slyly as he pulled away, “it’s perfect.”

And Jason was inclined to agree. 

Meanwhile:

Howard sat down on the piano bench next to Gary. 

“Hey Gazza?”

“Yeah Doug?”

“Fancy going out sometime? Me and you?”

Gary furrowed his brow. “You mean a date?”

“Yeah.”

“What about Jason?”

Howard looked confused. “Jason? He’s on a date with Mark…”

“With Mark?? But I always thought you two were…”

Howard’s eyes grew wide and he shook his head.

“Me and Jay? Oh no, no, we’re just friends. We’ve always just been good friends.”

Gary took a moment to take this in. “In that case…” He pulled Howard to him and kissed him on the lips, hard and hungry and eager and pulled back to grin at the dumbfounded Howard.

“Only been wanting to do that since 1991!”


End file.
